Oak Trees
by orys
Summary: "I don't think I want to marry a boy."


Snow never thought she'd have a choice in who she was going to spend the rest of her life with. She knew that her parents would choose. They would choose the man that they think would best protect their little princess from any harm that would befall on her. But, sometimes Snow would come into a deep thought. What if the person she was meant to be in real true love with was a woman?

Her mother always scolded her whenever she voiced her opinion. Telling her it was immoral and such a nonsense thing to think. She said that of course the princess had to be with a prince; to be with another princess would of course, bring shame onto the family. Snow had learned the importance of staying quiet about ones conflicting sexual problems when she listened in on a conversation through a door her ear was pressed firmly against to. She had heard her parents arguing about what had happened to their little girl; they wanted to know why she thought she didn't need that special _Prince Charming_anymore. Snow wanted to open the door and speak out that she didn't even know what she wanted. She never had either gender and she wanted to know why everyone was so angry over something she wasn't sure about. She didn't, though. She didn't want to voice her problems to much anyone anymore. She thought she should just keep them to herself.

There had been a girl Snow would always see wandering around the forest next to the castle. She'd watch her out of her window, seeing that long, red cloak trailing at her heels. Sometimes, Snow would think that the girl could sense her watching, as sometimes she'd tighten her hand around the hood, making sure her face wasn't visible to any wandering eyes. The princess was curious. She wanted to know who this girl was. She felt like she _needed_to know.

Around the time Snow was sure she'd see the girl again, she grabbed her cloak, throwing it haphazardly around her body before sneaking out of the castle. She ran through the snow, which crunched beneath her feet with every step. She stopped when she heard the same noise, but only some odd feet away. She strained her neck to look over the leaf-less branches of the trees before her. Snow stood up on her tip toes, which turned out to be a rather bad idea, as she had fallen, her shoes slipping on a patch of rather slippery ice so that her face planted right into that fluffy mixture of ice & water.

Red had heard the noise, stopping from her exploration to run after the source of the noise. She found her way, using her heightened sense of smell, right to the girl who was struggling to get up; her silk-gloved hands were slipping every time she placed her palms on the top of the ice, sending her back into the snow. Red smiled a little every time the girl attempted this, waiting for a moment before finally offering her hand. "Do you need some help?"

"Yes, please," Snow whined, taking the girl's hand without a second thought. Once she was up, she stopped when she noticed the red cloak. She finally found the person she was looking for. Snow couldn't say anything, her eyes running all over the other's face. The girl in front of her was absolutely beautiful, but she didn't know what it was that was drawing her in. Was it her long brown hair, which swept over her shoulders like a cascading waterfall? Maybe it was her eyes, those enchanting pools of green - or were they grey - that Snow couldn't help but keep looking into? But, she thought most of all, it must be the way the other's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Snow had finally found her voice:

"I- thank you so much for helping me. I'm sure I'd probably be stuck there if it wasn't for you."

Red's lips twitched back up, out of her concerned expression. The girl did seem pretty sweet. She sort of thought a princess would be snotty. She's never been one herself, nor could she ever relate to one. Red wasn't from one of those established families; she just lived with her Granny in a small cabin. She was content & never jealous of the girls she saw with those fancy dresses and rude ways circling them like flies do to carcasses. "I'm really glad I was here, then." _Right place, right time_. "I'm Red. What's your name?" She cocked her head to the side, watching the other girl's eyes gloss over, like she had forgotten something important.

Snow had a momentary lapse. What was her name again? She felt like she got hit by a battering ram. It took her a few seconds, but she finally had found her mind again, "I'm Snow." She thought she said it like any normal person would say their name, but she seem to have had shouted it, seeing as Red's expression was that of someone who smelled something sour. She covered her mouth with a gloved hand, her eyes widening, "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I said it in that manner. It was very unlady-like." She relaxed when Red laughed. Her laugh was really cute, but Snow said nothing about it.

* * *

Winter had melted into spring and both of the girls were spending more and more time together. Snow would always sneak out of the castle when she saw Red under her window, smiling up at her. That was the smile that Snow was loving more with every passing day. Especially when it was pointed at her.

Once Snow closed that big wooden door behind her, Red had run up, throwing her arms around her friend. "You know if you left me out here any longer, the wolves were going to come get me, then you'd be so sorry you took so long," she joked, pulling away and grabbing the other girl's hand, holding it as tight as she could as they ran away from the castle together in a fit of laughter.

They had been sitting under a rather large oak tree, which gave them shade from the mid-morning sun, as they ate some berries off a near by tree. Sometimes Snow would throw them at Red, only to see if the girl could catch them in her mouth; she always succeeded, which always made the princess burst into a fit of giggles.

Most of the days they would sit there and talk about each other's lives. Red learned a lot about the royal life and Snow learned a lot about fire-making and cooking and all of the things that she never had the opportunity to do at home. She looked at Red's animated face explaining what had happened to her friend the one time she tried to train a wild horse, her eyebrows shooting up every time she added an exclamation to certain words. Snow would find herself staring, but sometimes it was so hard to just shake the thoughts out of her head that were telling her to just go ahead and kiss the girl already, but she didn't want to spook her. She didn't want anything to happen to this friendship that they had. Snow didn't want to lose the only friend she had.

She swallowed the berries that were between her tongue and the roof of her mouth before asking; "Do you have arranged marriages? Is there someone your grandmother thinks you should be with?" She popped some more of the red, sticky fruit into her mouth as she waited for a reply.

"My Granny does think there are some boys I should be with, but she knows I have my own choice. Why? Don't you?" Red replied, reaching over and playfully taking some berries out of Snow's hand.

"I really don't," Snow didn't feel her expression change, but it must have, considering Red looked upset, "I am supposed to marry whatever prince wants my hand."

"That seems wrong to me. I don't think you should have to be with someone you don't love," she whispered, "I couldn't do that. I couldn't just marry whatever boy my Granny chose. I'd rather die." She leaned back against the base of the tree, leaning her head back so that she could see straight up through the budding leaves, right into the blue sky that was above them.

Snow thought it was time to go for it. It could be now or never. She didn't know when some seemingly normal prince would come and ask her father for her hand in marriage. Hell, there could be one at the castle right now. "Red?"

"Yes?" The girl looked over, her hair still nuzzled against the bark. Snow took a quick mental snapshot to document how cute Red looked this way; the sun kissing her face at the perfect angle.

"Do you ever think that. Maybe you're not supposed to be with a boy? That.. maybe your destiny is to be with another girl?" Snow felt weird saying the only thing on her mind out loud. "I mean, of course girls are supposed to be with boys, but does that mean that.. we really _have_to? Can't we have a choice over who we can love?" She pulled at one of the ruffles of her dress, trying to make it seem like the thing she was talking about wasn't anything important to her. She didn't want Red to think that she was talking about her.

"You know. I never really thought about it," Red began, her mouth moving to the side as if she was thinking, "I don't really know. I guess.. if I was near a girl or.. I knew a girl and whenever I sat beside her or talked to her I'd have those butterflies in my stomach, I think that'd be a sign. Why are you asking this?" She stretched out before leaning up, taking her back off of the tree. She didn't want to say anything to scare Snow away. She's been having those very same butterflies in her belly just as soon as winter broke. Days with the princess were always fun and full of adventure. Red felt like she taught Snow so many things, and it made her laugh when the other would get so excited over doing something by herself for the first time.

This was it. Snow didn't know if she should just tell the truth or lie. She didn't want to risk anything. "Oh, no reason. It's just a thought I have sometimes. I think that.." -she tried to carefully choose her words- ".. I don't think I want to marry a boy." She exhaled a slow, gentle breath, feeling like she got something heavy off her chest. She's been wanting to tell someone that for the longest time. She thought it would be better to tell a friend rather than her own parents.. or her future husband after they've tied the knot.

Red watched Snow carefully after her sentence ended. She took a few seconds before leaning up, placing her hands on the other girl's face, and before the girl could protest, planted her lips on the soft, pink ones below hers. Red had moved her hands so her fingers were gently entwining in the back of Snow's brown tresses, careful not to pull or to do anything that caused pain. She thought about pulling away, but she didn't as soon as she felt Snow kiss back, shyly, but still as much. The princess felt something inside her snap. Something that made her feel like this was a rather normal thing to do. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be all along.

The broke the kiss after what seemed like hours. Red kept her face close to Snow's, her hands still in position. She waited for a reply. She just wanted to know that this was the right thing to do.

"Wow..," Snow whispered; her eyes had moved from Red's eyes back down to her lips, wanting more than anything to have them back on hers. This was what she was missing out on? Kisses so soft that it felt like she was going to melt? She said nothing else as she pulled her friend back to her, claiming her lips once again. Snows hands found their way to Red's neck, wanting her as close as she could possibly get her.

Red did not protest at all to this change of power. She had moved her hands to the other girl's waist, caressing the light yellow fabric that was wrapped around her body. Red had never really felt this way before. Of course she had loads of boyfriends, each more wild than the last, but when she kissed Snow, she felt like she had something she hadn't with all of those boys. Snow was gentle and even in a conflicting sense, she was also a little wild herself. Red was curious as to where all of this would go. She desperately wanted to know.

Both girls were content with what had happened. They still smiled and laughed with & at each other, as they would sit under all of those trees, or have all of those adventures that would always bring lots of joy and fun. They discovered a lot more about each other, in romantic and friendly senses. Snow wasn't confused anymore, she knew what she wanted.

_And all she wanted was Red_.


End file.
